Mississippi State 38, Louisiana 28
NEW ORLEANS – Trey Ragas' 17-yard touchdown run with 2:45 in the fourth quarter cut Mississippi State's lead to 35-28, but the Louisiana comeback ultimately came up short as the Bulldogs held on for a 38-28 victory over the Ragin' Cajuns at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Saturday.
Nebraska 35, South Alabama 21
LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska's three second-half touchdowns on Saturday came via the defense and special teams, helping the Cornhuskers to a 35-21 non-conference football victory over the University of South Alabama at Memorial Stadium/Tom Osborne Field.
Georgia State 38, Tennessee 30
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Georgia State scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns and outrushed Tennessee 213-94 to shock the Volunteers 38-30 on Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium.
Eastern Michigan 30, Coastal Carolina 23
Conway, S.C. – Coastal Carolina got a school-record tying 53-yard field goal by sophomore place-kicker Massimo Biscardi to end the first half but saw Eastern Michigan score 16 points in the third quarter to pull in front for the 30-23 win over the Chanticleers in the two teams' season opener on Saturday afternoon at Brooks Stadium.
Appalachian State 42, East Tennessee State 7
BOONE, N.C. – Zac Thomas accounted for three touchdowns, including two through the air to Malik Williams and Thomas Hennigan, as Appalachian State won 42-7 against visiting East Tennessee State in the Football Bowl Suddivision head coaching debut for Eliah Drinkwitz on Saturday.
Troy 43, Campbell 14
TROY, Ala. – Kaleb Barker threw for two touchdowns and B.J. Smith rushed for 108 yards en route to a 43-14 victory over Campbell in the first game of the Chip Lindsey era. The win over Campbell marks the Trojans' first season opening win since 2016, and the Trojans are now 23-5 over their last 28 games.
SMU 37, Arkansas State 30
JONESBORO, Ark. – A record-tying performance by Omar Bayless was not quite enough to move Arkansas State past SMU on Saturday night at Centennial Bank Stadium, as the Red Wolves (0-1) dropped a tough 37-30 decision to the Mustangs (1-0) in the season opener for both teams.
LSU 55, Georgia Southern 3
BATON ROUGE, La. – The sixth-ranked LSU Tigers raced out to three first quarter touchdowns en route to a 55-3 victory over Georgia Southern Saturday night in front of 97,240 fans at Tiger Stadium in both team's season opener.
ULM 31, Grambling State 9
MONROE, La. – Jabari Johnson broke two long runs for touchdowns and ULM held Grambling State scoreless in the second half as the Warhawks rolled to a 31-9 victory in the season opener Saturday night.